Firing mechanism for automatic firearms



July 28, 1925. 1,547,973

, C. SUTTER V FIRING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Filed Feb. 20, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q 1- g July 28, 1925.

CQSUTTER FIRING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Filed Feb. 20, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 N w w lrwen$r N Charles J'ufler ,lvvvvvavvyv \\\\\\H 5! zlfihnd i M. .L x I I July 28, 1925. 1,547,973

c. SUTTER FIRING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS Fig; Fehzwgz j] ysheey-sheet 5 K Lharies $1112?! vgtthrntqs I Patented July 28, 1925.

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CHARLES surrnn, or SURESNES, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR. To SOGIETE ANONYME DES ANCIENS ETABLISSEMENTS HOTCHKISS ET COMPAGNIE, or sr- DENIS, sEmE,

FRANCE.

FIRING- MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC FIREARMS.

Application filed February 20, 1925. Serial No. 10,642.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES SUTTER, a citizen of the French Republic, and residing at 42 Rue Emile Zola, Suresnes, Seine, France, have invented new and useful Im provements in Firing Mechanisms for Au-- tomatic Firearms, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improvement in the firing mechanism for antomatic fire-arms according to the main patent, said improvement being essentially characterized by the combination of a trigger, a sear, a sear-lever connecting the trig ger and the sear and of a controlling member, (known as a safety device) acting upon the sear-lever, so as to effect either singleshot firing or continuous firing, or again to obtain the safety position. With this end in view, this controlling device can assume three positions, in which it presents, opposite to an inclined plane' formed on the searlever, either a flat which has no action upon the inclined plane (continuous firing) or a circular portion which acts upon the inclined plane in'such a manner that the lever is disengaged at theend of its rearward stroke from the sear (single shot-firing) or, finally, an eccentric projection which disengages the lever from the sear (safety position).

With this mechanism, when in the position for single shot firing, it is possible that, owing to fault workmanship or to wear, one may be ab e, by pressing progressively upon the trigger, either to depress the head of the sear sufficiently to release the mechanism of the fire-arm without releasing the sear-lever from the sear, and in this case the fire-arm will fire a certain number of shots continuously, or again to disengage the sear-lever from the sear before this latter has released the mechanism of the the arm, and in this case the mechanism will re: main fixed to the sear and no shot is fired. These two faults in operation will be still further accentuated, if, owing to the to1er ance accepted in every manufacture the mechanism of the fire-arm has a certain amount of play relative to the sear as regards the release of this latter therefrom.

The present invention is intended 'to obviate this drawback, which only takes place in the case of single-shot firing, and it consists in the addition, to the firing mechanism, of a tripping lever actuated by the mechanism of the fire-arm and acting positively upon the sear-lever, so as to disengage it from the sear after the shot has been fired, this tripping lever only acting when the controlling member is in the position for single shot firing.

Another characteristic of the invention consists in that an independent spring is provided for the return of the sear, while the sear-lever and the tripping-lever are drawn back by another spring acting under tension and connecting them together.

Finally, according to the present invention, the controlling device has no action upon the firing mechanism in the position for single shot firing, but has a projection which, in the position for continuous or machine-gun firing, acts upon the trippinglever so as to disengage this lever from the sear-lever and from the mechanism of the fire-arm, while this or another projection acts in the safety position upon the searlever so as to disengage it from the sear and to immobilize it. Furthermore, the controlling device may have a projection, which, in the safety position, disengages the tripping-lever from the mechanism of the fire-arm.

The invention is shown diagrammatically and by way of example, in the accompany ing drawings, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are longitudinal sections of an automatic gas-operated gun provided with the firing mechanism comprising the improvements according to the invention;

Figs. 3 and 4 show the firing mechanism in the position for single shot firing, the trigger being at rest in Fig. 3 and held by the finger in Fig. 4; i

Fig. 5 shows how, when the firing mechanism'is also in the position for single shot firing, one of the movable portions (piston) of the fire-arm acts upon this mechanism during its rearward movement Flg. 6 shows the firing mechanism in the position for continuous firing, the trigger being held by the finger;

Fig. 7 shows the mechanism in the safety position.

The firing mechanism is mounted in a casing 1 and is located underneath the firearm, under which it is held by the tenon 2 and by a removable pin 3. The parts of this mechanism comprise: The sear 4 pivoted upon the casing 1 about the axis 11 and upon which can be seen the head carrying the engaging catch 5, the arm 8 slotted for the passage of the sear-lever 9 and the abutment 10. The sear-lever 9 has a hole 12 into which a spring 7 can be hooked, a head 13 pivoted upon the trigger about a pin 16, an inclined plane 14 co-operating with the controlling mechanism and a hook 15 acting upon the arm 8 of the sear 4, which arm is slotted so as to receive the'hook 15 of the lever 9. The trigger 17 is pivoted at 22 and carries a fixed pin 16 about which the lever 9 can pivot.

According to the invention a trippinglever 25 is provided, which can pivot about two lateral trunnions 26 and has a nose 27, a heel 28 and a tail-piece 29 which can come into contact with a projection 30 carried by the sear-lever 9, this lever 25 also having a hole 31 into which the spring 7 can be hooked.

The means for controlling the mechanism consist of an axis 32 having an eccentric projection 33 and a flat 34, this axis 32 which is operated by an outer flexible lever which can be: fixed by a stop in three different positions, can furthermore be provided with a supplementary projection 37.

The spring 7 acts upon the sear-lever 9, upon the trigger 17, and upon the trippinglever 25. The sear-lever 9 which engages the pin 16 of the trigger 17 is held thereon for purposes of assembling and disassembling the mechanism by the tube 22 which serves as an axis for the trigger 17. The front portion of the sear-lever 9 carrying the hook 15 is guided through the slot formed in the arm 8 of the sear 4, the head 5 of which is constantly forced upwards by a spring. 35. Finally, the trunnions 26 of the tripping-lever 25 are located in two circular openings formed in the upper portion 1 of the casing 1.

The methodof operation is as follows:

The shaft 32 of the controlling mechanism being placed in position for single shot firing (Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 5) the nose 27 of the tripping-lever 25 projects, in the interior of the receiver, into a groove 36 formed at the rear and upon the lower face of the piston P which is given a reciprocating movement during the operation of the fire-arm. The position of the groove 36 relative to the nose 27 is such, that when the firing mechanism is cooked (Fig. 3), the slightest further rearward movement of the piston causes lowering of this nose 27.

If the trigger 17 is pulled this latter, by means of itsv pin 16, takes with it the searlever 9 which, by means of its hook 15,

swings the sear 4; the head of the sear 5 moves away and the piston is released and moved towards the right under the action of the returning spring of themechanisni of the fire-arm. The flat 34 of the shaft 32 enables the sear-lever 9 to move rearwardly but does not act upon the incline 14. The incline 30 of the sear-lever 9 comes almost into contact with the tail-piece 29 of the lever 25. It will be noticed that the searlever 9 and the sear 4 are still in complete engagement and that consequently the head of the sear 5 remains in its lower position, (Fig. 4).

When the piston moves back (Fig. 5) the groove 36 of this piston passes over the nose 27 of the tripping lever 25 and then the full portion of the piston strikes this nose 27 and depresses it just as the catch of the piston reaches the head 5 of the sear 4. The depression of the nose 27 results in a pivotal movement of the lever 25, the tail-piece 29 of which, acting upon the projection 30 causes depression of the sear lever 9 and,

,in consequence, the disengagement of the arm 8 of the sear 4 from the hook 15 of this lever 9. The sear 4 rises under the action of its spring 35 and its head 5 will retain the piston when this latter, after the end of its stroke to the left is brought back slightly to the right by its returning spring (position shown in dotted lines in (Fig. 5). When the trigger is released, all the other parts resume the osition shown in Fig. 3 under the action of the spring 7. It is then necessary to act upon the trigger again in order to fire another shot.

The controlling member 32 being set for continuous fire (Fig. 6), the heel 28 of the tripping lever 25 is raised by the cocentric portion 33 of said controlling member, while the tail-piece 29 has passed beyond the projection 30 of the sear-lever 9 and has no effect upon this lever, and the nose 27 is depressed so as to escape the action of the piston P. If pressure is exerted upon the trigger 17 as shown in Fig. 6, the sear 4 will remain constantly depressed since the sear lever 9 can no longer be disengaged from the arm 8 of the sear 4 and firing continues as longas pressure is continued upon the trigger and as long as any cartridges are contained in the firearm. It is evident that on releasing the trigger during firing, all the parts resume their original position. In particular, the sear 4, rises and its head engages the piston and stops the firing.

Finally if the controlling member 32 is placed in the position shown in Fig. 7, the eccentric portion 33 of the shaft depresses the sear-lever 9 so as to .avoid the engagement of its hook 15 with the arm 8 of the sear 4. At the same time the projection 37 acting upon the heel 28 disengages the tripping lever from the piston P. The cocking movement will be possible but any action upon the trigger 17, if said trigger is not completely wedged by the abutment of the hook 15 against the casing 1, Will only result in moving this book 15, still further away from the arm 8 of the sear 4.

The invention has been shown and described as applied to a gas operated gun, but it is evidently applicable to any type of fire-arm.

I claim: 7

1. A firing mechanism for automatic firearms comprising in combination: a trigger; a scar, a sear-lever connecting the trigger and sear, a device for controlling the nature of fire and a trip-lever actuated by the operating mechanism of the fire-arm and adapted to disengage the sear- I lever from the sear.

2. A firing mechanism for automatic firearms, comprising in combination: a trigger, a scar, a sear-lever connecting the trigger and sear, a device for controlling the nature of fire and a trip-lever actuated by the operating mechanism of the fire-arm and adapted to disengage the sear-lever from the sear when said controlling device is in the position for single-shot fire.

3. A firing mechanism for automaticfirearms, comprising in combination: a trigger, a sear, a sear-lever connecting the trigger and sear, a device for controlling the nature of fire, a trip-lever actuated by the operating mechanism of the fire-arm and adapted to disengage the sear-lever from the sear, said trip-lever being under the influence of said controlling device.

4. A firing mechanism for automatic fire arms, comprising in combination: a trigger, a sear, a sear-lever connecting the trigger and sear, a trip-lever adapted to disengage the sear-lever from the sear, and means determining the position of said triplever for controlling the nature of fire.

5. A firing mechanism for automatic firearms comprising in combination: a trigger, a scar, a sear-lever connecting the trigger and sear, a trip-lever resiliently connected to said sear-lever and a device adapted to act upon said trip-lever for the purpose of controlling the nature of fire.

6. A firing mechanism for automatic firearms, comprising in combination: a trigger, a scar, a sear-lever connecting the trigger and sear, a trip-lever resiliently connected to said sear-lever and a controlling device adapted to act upon said trip-lever when said device, is set for single-shot firin.

I. A firing mechanism for automatic firearms, comprlsing in combination: a trigger,

a scar, a sear-lever adapted to engage said sear, a spring for causing said engagement, a trip-lever, said spring connecting said trip-lever to said sear-lever, and means for controlling the action of said trip-lever according to the nature of fire.

8. A firing mechanism for automatic firearms comprising in combination: a trigger, a scar, a sear-lever adapted to engage said sear, a spring for causing said engagement, a trip-lever, said spring connecting said tri ger, sear-lever and trip-lever and a contrcfiling device for adjusting said trip-lever according to the nature of fire.

9. A firing mechanism for automatic firearms, comprising in combination: a trigger, a sear, a sear-lever engaging said scar and said trigger, a trip-lever connected to said sear-lever by a spring, and means for adg'iusting said trip-lever to suit the nature of .1 0 In a firing mechanism of the class described, a tripping-lever resiliently connected to the sear-lever, said tripping-lever having a nose capable of being engaged by a part of the mechanism of the gun, a heel, a controlling device for adjusting said heel, and a tail-piece adapted to act upon the sear-lever:

11. In a device of the class described, the combination of a trigger, a sear, a sear-lever, a trip-lever and a single spring connecting said trip-lever to said sear-lever and ensur ing the return of the trigger, the sear-lever and of the trip-lever.

12. In a device of the class described, the combination of a trigger, a sear, a sear-lever, a trip-lever, a single spring connecting said trip-lever to said sear-lever and ensuring the return of the trigger, the sear-lever and of'the trip-lever and a second spring for moving the sear into its engaging position.

13. .A firing mechanism comprising in combination: a trigger, a sear, a sear-lever, a trip-lever, a spring connecting said searlever to said trip-lever, controlling means adjustable to three positions, said means having no action in the position for singleshot fire, and being adapted to disengage the trip-lever from the sear-lever and the mechanism of the gun for continuous fire, and in the safety position locks the searlever.

14. A firing mechanism for automatic fire-arms, comprising in combination: a trigger, a sear, a sear-lever connecting the trigger and the sear, a device for controlling the nature of fire, a trip-lever actuated by the operating mechanism of the fire-arm and adapted to disengage the sear-lever from thesear, said device being adapted to disengage the trip-lever from the mechanism of the gun.

15. Firing mechanism for automat1c firearms comprising in combination: a reciprocating piston, a trigger, a sear, a sear-lever connected to said trigger and sear, said piston having a groove and a notch, a triplever connected elastically tosaid sear-lever, said trip-lever having a nose adapted to engage a groove in said piston, a tail-piece adapted to engage said sear-lever, and a heel, a controlling device acting upon the heel of said trip-lever to bring about singleshot fire, continuous fire or safety positlon, and a spring tending to force the sear into engagement with the notch in said piston.

CHARLES SUTTER. 

